Monthly Archives: January 2009

If you’re looking for inspiration in 2009 – just look at these homes from last year, from Cookie Magazine’s blog. The winner, Stephanie Nielson (of NieNieDialogue fame) seems to be recovering well from her infamous airplane crash (details here if you’ve never heard about it). Just thought a refresher course in these gorgeous pictures from the Cookie nesting blog would be inspiring!

I’m cleaning the house for possible walk throughs this weekend so today’s will be a short post. For Christmas, Santa brought Cole every season of Monk (we haven’t had cable for a couple of years and he loves Monk and Psych and doesn’t get to see them) and so over the holidays we’ve been having Monk Marathons and then passing the dvds on to my mother who loves the show, too. I love the show because it’s like Murder She Wrote with OCD. Anyway – Gabe was watching them with us and was getting tired. He got up to do some origami instead but stopped and waited for the first few minutes of the show to be over and mentioned, “I just love the murdering part.” Our innocent little Gabe. Maybe he’s not so innocent! Look at him, though (above)…he has to take his beanie babies everywhere…he just loves that puppy tucked under his arm. I don’t think he could really hurt a fly…well, maybe a fly.

Yeah for SPRING! Here goes wishful thinking since it’s still cold and January here in Omaha. I’m anxious for spring – mostly because then I know we will HAVE to be well on our way to Texas. Geesh. This waiting in winter thing is more difficult than I expected – patience schmatience. Very difficult stuff to be in limbo. I’m going to appease my worries with a little spring-like eye candy. The website for the above pics is here and the site includes a blog, craft school and boutique – some of it is still in the works but I’ve seen the magazine. It’s fabulous.

Don and I were irreverent in Sacrament Meeting. Why? Because after the bread was passed to Jack, he reached out and said in a loud voice, “I need more remembering!!!” If you don’t get it…think of the sacrament wording about REMEMBERING. Yes. I know. We couldn’t help it.

I wish that I had these skills about three weeks ago. I sent my sister, LeAnne an apron I tried to sew myself and it looks regurgitated next to these aprons that my friend Benay helped me sew yesterday. I now have THE SKILLS. At least to do an apron! So, LeAnne, which of these two do you want and which one can I keep? Look out – if you know me and usually get a gift – it’s probably going to be an apron this year.

I didn’t get a chance to write a special post about Jack for his birthday during all of the holiday hubbub. I wanted to write a note for each child’s birthday on what we love about them at this stage of their lives. Jack is all boy. Last Sunday my sister’s husband, Ron, watched Jack run down the hall at church. He ran into a woman in our branch that is usually sick and frail, but not old. Anyway, he bumped into her and kept going down the hall (backstory: he had received a candy bar certificate for his birthday in Primary and wanted to get it. Fast.). Ron, said that Jack turned on a dime, walked ALL THE WAY back down the hall, and of his own volition politely apologized and with complete sincerity asked her if she was okay. He didn’t just say sorry…he looked into her face and genuinely apologized. All without prompting! What a great kid! He still got his chocolate and we’ll take care of running down the halls some other time.

Some other things Jack is doing right now: His favorite word when he likes something is “chocoboolate” (pronounced chalk-uh-boo-law-tay). He is starting to be a real big brother to Ben. He shares his toys willingly almost all of the time. He really, really likes Star Wars. He was dying for Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em for Christmas. He just discovered computer games and likes Civilization. He is, at the moment, a picky eater and likes chocolate, yogurt, milk, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cereal and not much else. He will eat salad but no other vegetable. He is a fast runner with the cutest little muscles (he’s got the most muscle of all of our kids). He has faint downy hair all over his body – more hair than a 6 yr old should have. He’s the best reader in Kindergarten by far – at least a 2nd grade level – and taught himself to read. He wants his hands free so badly that he had a cut in his skin from not wearing his mittens in the cold weather. He sleeps with Pokemon cards and books (we discovered 9 books in his bed with him). He likes to pull pillowcases over his legs and crawl in and fall asleep. His nickname is “Jack Juice” ever since it was his preschool icon for his backpack and cubby. When he was little, he’d come over to be tickled and say “Torture me!” and taunt you to catch him. His favorite shoes are camo mocs and crocs. He likes to wake up early EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. He would stand up for the right in any situation; he was willing to rat out 3rd graders at school who killed Gabe’s slugs on the school bus. He can handle the money in Star Wars Monopoly (he adds and subtracts like a 2nd grader, too). He’s just an all-around great kid. I love his round nose, blue eyes, sandy blonde hair and freckles — it’s a killer combo. He is mischievous and sweet and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Each of the above pics is from Marie Claire Idees – a French sewing/knitting/craft magazine. I am a francophile (is that supposed to be capitalized? I don’t think so.). I love anything from/about/in/around France. I went there after my senior year in high school and had a great time but I’m wanting to go back and take my husband. He is not such a French fan but I think he’d enjoy the culture, photo ops and most definitely the food. J’adore le pays de France dans mon coeur.

I am going to reprint a letter I received in my email from SMALL Magazine (an online magazine; if you haven’t checked it out, go here).

Dear Small Readers,

We are writing to inform you of action taken by Congress this past August to pass the HR4040–the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). We are pleased that Congress passed a bill to protect our children from toys containing lead and phthalates and addressing other safety issues. However, parts of this bill will directly effect all small handmade toy makers, designers and store owners in a way that will put many of them out of business. The CPSIA rules now requires all children’s products, including natural handmade toys and clothing to be tested by a Third Party Lab, often at a cost of up to $4,000 per item. That could cost a small company more than $20,000 a season.

The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of children’s goods that have earned and kept the public’s trust: Toys, clothes, and accessories made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade children’s products will no longer be legal in the US.

If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while major food manufacturers such as Kraft and Dole prospered.

For small American, Canadian, Australian and European toy-makers and manufacturers of all children’s products the costs of mandatory testing will probably force them out of business.

A toymaker who makes wooden cars in his garage in Maine to supplement his income cannot afford the $4,000 fee per toy that testing labs are charging to assure compliance with the CPSIA.
A small-scale designer selling screen printed kids t-shirts from Australia will have to undergo expensive testing and provide permanent tracking labels for each item in order to sell within the US.

A work at home mom in Texas who makes handmade clothing must choose either to violate the law or cease operations.

A small toy retailer in Vermont who imports wooden toys from Europe, which has long had stringent toy safety standards, must now pay for testing on every toy they import.
And even the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.

Child safety and the environment is a top priority here at Small Magazine and we are concerned by the dangerous and poisonous toys that large toy manufacturers have been selling to our nations families. That is why we support the independent designers and companies making safe, handmade products for our children.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and we appreciate your help.